Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is warning the world has reached a
"dangerous point" as tensions between Russia and the United States
spike over the Syria conflict (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)
Moscow
(AFP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned on Monday that
the world has reached a "dangerous point" as tensions between Russia and
the United States spike over the Syria conflict.
Relations
between Moscow and Washington -- already at their lowest since the Cold
War over the Ukraine conflict -- have soured further in recent days as
the United States pulled the plug on Syria talks and accused Russia of
hacking attacks.
The
Kremlin has suspended a series of nuclear pacts, including a symbolic
cooperation deal to cut stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.
"I think the world has reached a dangerous point," Gorbachev, 85, told state news agency RIA Novosti.
"I
don't want to give any concrete prescriptions but I do want to say that
this needs to stop. We need to renew dialogue. Stopping it was the
biggest mistake."
As
the last leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev oversaw an easing of
decades of tensions with the West that helped to end the Cold War.
He signed several landmark nuclear disarmament deals with Washington aimed at defusing the standoff between the two superpowers.
"It
is necessary to return to the main priorities. These are nuclear
disarmament, the fight against terrorism, the prevention of an
environmental disaster," he said.
"Compared to these challenges, all the rest slips into the background."
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